Ever been so bored that you'd read phonebook? Trapped by a blizzard in a small mountain town in rural Virginia while returning from a business trip, I spent three days in a random chain motel terrified I'd finish my books--I literally read the phonebook to slow down my literary consumption rate. The only other people there were long-haul truckers equally trapped, though I had a car in the parking lot, they had semis scattered in neat array of geometric angles in medians, ditches, and various places far too near to "scenic overlooks" for comfort. In any case, I was a little too intimidated to go ask if anyone wanted to trade novels.

In memory of those three bizarre days in Staunton, VA (that's Stan-tin, not Staun-ton), David if you want to sing the phone book, I'll buy three copies. Release those 50 songs in any form and I'll track down all the truck drivers who were trapped with me and hand deliver each of them three copies for their own use. (If you make a promise like that, God holds you to it, so I'm taking an awfully serious risk. Gotta suffer for the cause.)

FWIW, I missed out on the AFM release, but kind of like the way it worked, those who were fans through thick and thin got to buy something more intimate-sounding, something more "real" and a polished, perfected commercial release. It's nice to have both versions. Meaning I'll have to get around to asking for a copy soon, huh?

Kelly